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I've always been worried about getting a big mobile phone bill, so when I go on holiday I always use a PAYG sim.

I often work away from home and need to send large files to the companies I work for each evening. After being sick of having problems connecting to hotel wifi, I bought a modem from Vodafone and have been paying £30 a month for 50 GB of data.

The thing that really swayed me when I took out the contract was that the salesman said "The beauty of this plan is that it is capped, so you can't go over". Because this is something which I worry about I then took out the plan.

Everything was fine for 10 months. Last month I went over my allowance which I didn't think was possible. I went over by 24GB, using 74GB instead of the 50GB that I pay for. The first I knew was when I received a text to say that I had to ring them. I went into the store and they told me that I had been cut off because I owed them £694 - they charged me £664 for going 24GB over my allowance. They have taken this money out of my account, leaving me massively overdrawn.

The store said I had to ring customer services. I recorded the call and the third advisor I spoke to actually said "Its well known within Vodafone that the staff say the tariff is capped to get the sale". So basically, they lie to customers. I would not have taken this tariff out if I had known what I am now being told which is that they don't cap dongles or modems.

They tell me as I've used the data, I owe the money and that's that. I was offered a £50 goodwill gesture which I refused. I made a formal complaint and have just had a phone call to say they can offer me a 10% discount off the bill - so £69.40. They have said that is all they can do and the account is now in deadlock.

Can anyone advise where I go from here? I have 2 problems really. The first is that I was told it was capped, so I shouldn't be in this position in the first place. The second is that the cost for going over seems completely disproportionate given that I pay £30 for 50GB and they have taken £664 for 24GB.

Ah you bought/use a data dongle from them, are you a business user or consumer user?

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Data charges in the UK and abroad

Each plan comes with a data allowance. For any data used outside your monthly UK data allowance, you'll be charged £6.50 for every 250MB.
If you reach the limit of your data allowance, whether at home or when you’re in a Global Roaming destination, you can choose to buy a Data Extra.

”

reading the Terms etc it looks like you never turned the cap on

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Managing your data with Vodafone Data Manager
A Data Cap puts you in control of your data usage, so you can search, share and
stream – secure in the knowledge you won’t face unexpected charges at the end of
the month.To start with your Data Cap is switched off. If you’d like to switch your Data Cap on,
the easiest way is by using the free My Vodafone app – available from your app store.
Or by logging in at www.vodafone.co.uk/myvodafone.
Data capping doesn’t just monitor your data usage, we’ll also let you know when
you’re nearing your limit, and you can decide what you would like to do next.
You can choose to keep the cap in place or select one of our great value data extras.
If you decide to turn your data cap off, you’ll be charged at your out of plan rate at
£6.50 per 250MB of data. For more information on out of plan charges, please go towww.vodafone.co.uk/explore/costs/data-charges/ If you find you’re regularly
going over your data allowance, you can choose to change your tariff, or select one
of our great value data extras by using our Live Chat Online, or ringing 191 from your
Vodafone mobile, or 0333 3040191 from any other phone.

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